Network error trying to start online co-op

[DjDragon]

Getting the following error every time I click to play Online Co-op. "Failed to connect. Network error code: ExceptionOnConnect"
{LINK REMOVED}https://snipboard.io/pkb9r2.jpg

I cannot get any further no matter which option I click from there.

This issue started occuring 05/02/20 and has persisted ever since. Have played months worth of online co-op runs prior to this with no issues.

I have tried validating game files, reinstalling the game, and reseting my router, all with no success.

Connected my PC to a mobile WiFi hotspot seemed to fix this, however this is not a feasible solution.

[LOHU]

were you able to solve the connection error problem?

[DjDragon]

No, no changes yet. Using a free VPN fixes the issue, so it's something to do with my router and the game.
It worked for weeks before it broke though, with no config changes on my router.

[DJ Addi]

I had this issue and tracked it down to a faulty DNS entry for "ns.exitgames.com". You can test this easily by opening a command prompt (Windows + R -> "cmd") and pinging the address ("ping ns.exitgames.com").
If it cannot resolve the host name, you have the same issue. I (temporarily) fixed it by having a friend do the same and overriding the IP on my hosts file (system drive/Windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts). The entry should look like this:
40.114.175.181 ns.exitgames.com

Keep in mind that this solution can break when the server changes, but you can always redo the same steps.

[DjDragon]

I can resolve the hostname (in this case to vss-ns2019-eu.westeurope.cloudapp.azure.com [40.114.175.181]), tho as expected the ping request itself times out.

When I ping that address with my free VPN on it resolves to a different IP 52.188.143.243, times out, and does not give the full address name.

After putting the entry you mentioned - 40.114.175.181 ns.exitgames.com - into the hosts file this resolved the issue and it now connects without the need for a VPN (at least for now!)

Out of interest I also tried flushing the local DNS with "ipconfig /flushdns" which did not work. Very strange that it does not give you the proper host IP address for ns.exitgames.com after a wipe of previous entries, but at least your way of explicitly declaring it works.

Thanks for the fix, as much as it's more of a band-aid, at least I know it's not just me and it's just as much of an issue on their end! How did you manage to find this out?

[kpeebs]

also some games can look like tehre not private but they are and it says that when u click on a server like that idk